Posted: March 24, 2005

Athletics: U.S. Mountain Runners to Compete at Inaugural Challenger's Race in Japan

Six mountain runners will represent the United States in the inaugural "Challenger's Race 2005," which will be held in the suburban mountains of Tokyo on April 29, 2005.

According to organizer and Japanese businessman Todd Itezono, "The event will be used as a tool to pinpoint and emphasize the wonderfulness of the natural and physical world and will serve to stress the importance of how human beings need to live symbiotically with nature, to preserve them by running through a trail, under trees and next to plants and flowers, so to avoid any further man-made natural disasters. By inviting runners from other countries, we want to stress that such an action needs combined effort from everybody on earth, because nature does not belong to only one country but to all humanity."

The race will be run on the Okutama Mountain range outside Tokyo and will offer courses at 10K, 50K and 100K as well as relay competition. More than 1,500 runners are expected and an estimate of 10,000 spectators. U.S. team members will compete in the 10K, the 50K and the 100K. The course ranges in elevations from 200 meters to more than 2000 meters.

"On behalf of USA Track & Field and the World Mountain Running Association, I am delighted to be a part of this mission and look forward to competing on the trails in Japan. Establishing a relationship with our Asian friends is important to our worldwide mountain running movement," said Nancy Hobbs.

Team leader Adam Chase added, "We are thrilled with the opportunity to compete in this first-ever mountain race in Japan and share our experiences and goodwill with our hosts, especially given the environmental and educational charities that will benefit from the races."

Sponsoring the U.S. contingent is Mont-Bell, a Japanese apparel and gear company with a regional presence in Boulder, Colorado.

Team members include:
Adam Chase, 39, Boulder, CO
Ethan Hemphill, 32, Freeport, ME
Nancy Hobbs, 44, Colorado Springs, CO
Paul Low, 31, Amherst, MA
Kelli Lusk-Low, 35 Amherst, MA
Anita Ortiz 40, Eagle, CO

From: Contact: Nancy Hobbs, (719) 573-4133; trlrunner@aol.com.

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Services Director
385 Oak View Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93111

(805) 696-6232, fax (805) 967-5958
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.runningusa.org.